The port crisis committee created to deal with the lingering labor problem in the Dumaguete City port will ask the Philippine Ports Authority to continue its temporary assumption of the cargo handling services, until the conflict is resolved, Mayor Agustin Perdices said yesterday.

Perdices said that the committee, composed of representatives from the different sectors, will also ask the PPA to absorb the remaining 118 strikers belonging to the Associated Labor Union-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, while the dispute between the union and the Prudential Customs and Brokerage Services Inc. remains unresolved.

He added a resolution embodying the requests is now being finalized and will be sent to PPA general manager Oscar Sevilla.

The PPA took over the disputed cargo handling services beginning April 5 after the port was closed on April 2, when violence erupted between the strikers and Dumaguete police, resulting in the injuries to some strikers and policemen.

The PPA is now utilizing some 65 PCBSI workers in its cargo handling operation.

But Perdices said PPA’s assumption will only be up to May 5, as indicated in the order of Sevilla. However, he also said the resolution of the conflict remains uncertain.

Earlier, the workers staged a strike after the PCBSI, the winning bidder for the cargo handling services in the port, refused to absorb all of them.

As the strikers blocked the entrance and exit gates of the port, delivery of inbound and outbound goods was adversely affected, prompting the shippers to use other entry points to deliver their cargos, creating much inconvenience and additional expense.

Perdices said he hopes Sevilla will respond to the request positively, especially because the strikers are scheduled to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during her visit to Dumaguete, on April 25.*RA

back to top